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| Tuesday, November 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Male
viewpoint Good health: |
Male
viewpoint Working Woman I was watching a basketball match on the college court on one of those lazy evenings when all you had to do was to pass the time between tea and dinner. A few girls joined in and the game was on. But as it progressed I got the drift that our boys, some of whom were on the college squad were losing! At which point, I moseyed up to Philip in the breather and demanded an explanation — college pride and all that. After looking furtively around he said pointing to the opposing team — “You see those girls? We can’t check them. Everywhere is a restricted zone.” And as the girls continued to basket merrily, I shuffled away with foreboding. Here, in a microcosm, was the paradox of the sexes if ever there was one. Femininity versus masculinity. So tacit, so discreet. So ubiquitous, yet almost omnipotent. Which begged the question: In the game of life between men and women where does chivalry end and competition begin? More so in the revised formulae of interaction between the man and the ‘new’ woman how does this translate in the workplace? Many men have still to come to terms with the shift from the chivalry/docility axis to the present competition/ co-operation axis where the woman is your colleague if not your boss. In the corporate world, one side is the feminist spiel of the woman manager, a many-handed Durga who is homemaker, business partner, adorable daughter-in-law, fantastic with the kids and a svelte body to boot. The flip side summed up graphically by a lady friend on the job hunt was, “What of merit? Every inch your skirt goes up the salary goes up by a thousand bucks.” How is modern man to assimilate these images of the modern woman? In an age where advertising does its best to accentuate the differences between the sexes, blatantly pushing gender-specific brands, we need to be careful not to miss the woods for the trees. Women in positions of influence need to be scrupulously fair, transparent and supportive in the workplace — both with male as well as female subordinates. More than ever today it is crucial to appreciate that each worker has a unique contribution to make, irrespective of gender. It is natural that sometimes men and women may need to explore more of their selves. Sharing is a human need which recognises no parameters. It has been said, somewhat naively, that a woman needs a man as much as a fish needs a bicycle. A gendered notion of production does not get us anywhere. Both the EQ and IQ need to come into play. In the late 70’s it was possible for Nissim Ezekiel to counsel his student Edna Lobo who later becomes a painter and a teacher in Saligao, Goa. In Advice to a Painter Nissim conceded: A woman has her hopes and dreams. Announce yours to Eves’s Weekly and feel fulfiled. Today’s woman needs a lot more to feel fulfiled. The metaphor of androgyny is not out of place. Fashion critic Suzy Menkes informs us from Paris that the 1980’s broad shoulders, boss woman and tough chic are coming back. As she puts it: “After a brief interregnum of kinder, gentler, girls fashion, the stark message at the end of the 4-week international fashion season was butch is beautiful.” And while the femme fatales grapple with identity — a colleague of mine remarked that most women cannot handle power — my thoughts go back to the silent figure of ardhanareeswara in the Elephanta caves. Uniting both sexes in one body, this avatar of Shiva harnesses the female and the male energies in cosmic balance. A vivid reminder for all systems and organisations to do likewise — or witness the tandava. Work structures must ensure a non-threatening climate and judge merit by performance alone. The chemistry between the sexes is volatile. Allowances should be made for a few explosions.
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Good health: God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. Are we not ignoring this famous saying? Is it not true that we are not giving her as much care as she deserves? Then why have women’s health problems in the developing countries never got top priority? The focus is mainly on family planning and child survival. It is assumed that the needs of a woman arise only during pregnancy and child birth. Women everywhere tend to accept this lack of attention to their needs because of their lower status and their reluctance to question the predominantly male medical establishment. It is a natural tendency of women to seek care for their children rather than for themselves. Women are more likely to go in for self treatment or to seek traditional healing and advice. She feels that the time spent waiting in queues could more profitably be spent doing domestic or paid work. A woman has a long list of responsibilities. She plays so many roles so perfectly – earning income, procuring the daily needs of food and provisions, child care, providing emotional security and catering to the individual needs of each one in the family. Her own health care is only sidelined in this long list. A women’s role is accepted only as a caregiver and not as a careseeker. In many societies, the length and arduousness of a woman’s working day mean that her health problems are far advanced before they become important enough to do something about. Her health problems are not serious until she can not ‘stand, walk or talk’. She is expected to perform duties even when she is seriously ill. Women too, tend to care less for their health due to lack of money, lack of time, lack of education, and above all their upbringing in a society dominated and ruled by men.They are mostly financially dependant on their fathers, husbands and sons to provide for them throughout their lives. Being the bread earners, men are generally the decision-makers in determining when and where women seek health care. Gender discrimination, which is prevalent in many communities, begins early and creates a sense of neglect and a subordinate status amongst women. Many men too seem uneasy about the concept of ‘educated’ wives, fearing that ‘women will learn how to argue with husbands’. Older women also help to enforce harmful cultural taboos, such as dietary restrictions for pregnant women. In India, women are considered second class citizens. In the rural and lower income groups, it is the woman and the girl child who have to bear the brunt of food scarcity in households. The female child neither receives the attention, nor the calories. What she gets is the chores and the leftovers. The irony is that women acknowledge that they are indispensable for performing virtually all household tasks, yet they are dispensable because they can be replaced by another woman. Since women perceive themselves as having different rights from men, they do not feel that they have the right to good health. Studies have shown that the incidence of osteoporosis, anaemia, depression, panic disorders, anorexia, bulimia and hypertension occurs more in women than men. India has the highest prevalence (and largest share) of anaemia levels amongst children and women in the world. In fact, we have the dubious distinction of having the largest proportions of women (47.1per cent) having chronic energy deficiency during adulthood according to body mass index criteria. Some diseases go unreported due to the stigmas associated with them e.g. sexually transmitted diseases, vaginal infections and asthma. Malaria and tuberculosis are predominantly diseases of rural India whereas non-communicable diseases like depression are prevalent in the urban women. Hectic work schedules followed by an equally demanding domestic responsibility account for the stress experienced by working women. The incidence of depression in the world is twice as high in women than in men and has been identified as a major illness for WHO to deal with. Domestic violence is another condition which only a few women will report because they are trained to be tolerant and submissive. The challenge today is to provide information that is meaningful, useful and always available to women, specially the poor and illiterate. The two most important ways to empower women are to educate them and even more than that, we need to educate, civilise and create awareness in men, that a women needs to be given a noble position in society and not be treated as a mere object to be utilised whenever and wherever required. In our country, where national health care systems face severely limited resources women’s potential for positive health action both for themselves and for their families is significant. Their knowledge and experience in providing health care should be utilised and enhanced. Attitudes will have to change in order to bring about this change. As women, we too have to wake up to realise and devote time to our health which is a right and not a privilege.
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www.henkelwoman.com www.mustformums.com www.hisandhermedicine.com — Gaurav Sood |
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